Member

Tinkering just to add a few council tax bands will not move the needle: there are not enough large houses in many areas to support extra tax. Removing the 25% discount for widows has been mooted. Kicking old dears already clobbered by the cut to winter fuel allowance will not wash. My amendment seeks for the Government to report on the effects of all this and, by extension, to compensate councils for the actual costs of the increases in national insurance. It need not be difficult. When national government changes the business rate situation, a Section 34 claim under the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 provides a template for refunding these costs to councils. There you go: I have provided the solution without any more legislative or parliamentary time being needed. My amendment would have the effect that the doorstep services that residents value the most in cathedral cities, coastal communities, market towns, new towns and the countryside up and down our nation can be protected.